1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an equipment and process for quantitative X-ray analysis using an X-ray microanalysis technique for analyzing characteristic X-rays generated when, for example, a substance is irradiated with electron beams or X-rays and more particularly can analyze multiple elements with significantly different element densities.
2. Description of Related Art
In a quantitative analysis using EDX (energy dispersive X-ray analyzer) or WDX (wavelength dispersive X-ray analyzer), when elements contained in a sample are determined, in general, a ZAF (Z: atomic number correction, A: absorption correction, F: fluorescent excitation correction) operation has been carried out. However, such a method presumes that the elements are uniformly distributed in the sample, and for samples in which elements may exist in a non-uniform dispersion in the sample, that is, so-called non-uniform samples, elements have been determined using a calibration curve process.
As shown in Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. Sho 62-70740, there is disclosed a process for scanning electron beams over a sample surface, preparing a histogram of characteristic X-rays for each component based on X-ray intensity at each point on the sample, computing the element composition of the partial phase on the sample surface, and obtaining a weighted-mean by multiplying this element composition by the ratio of each partial phase in the sample.
However, the quantitative analysis process described in the above patent publication would be operative when the density of elements distributed in the sample are similar, but it has a defect of poor accuracy when there is a big difference in such a density.